Opened up an SGU in RealBand and the little comments thing comes up and the main page says "Generating Music. Please Wait..." on the title bar.
I actually wrote to say "and then it never came back" but it does actually come back an hour later. Is that right? What did it do in all that time?
(My larger context: I set up a song in BiaB and figured I would replace each of the tracks one by one with me playing a real instrument. I'm not sure if this is even the way to go about it but I thought that was a curious delay.)
I usually see an "Initializing Accompaniment" message but either way an hour seems really excessive. That usually lasts a minute or so at most here.
But yes, RB is an ideal tool to replace the BB tracks one by one. In my workflow, one of the first things I do if I plan to replace all the tracks is use the 'Make all BB tracks regular tracks' option, so it doesn't try to keep generating them (and possibly causing the above mentioned screen).
Then I can work in more of a DAW like setting.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
Yes, if you are going to replace them yourself, might as well just use what you have for now until you replace it, as opposed to repeatedly regenerating stuff you plan to replace anyway.
Here, if they are BB tracks in Realband they show with blue titles (track names) and regenerate .. after making them Regular tracks they have black titles and don't auto-generate.
Last edited by rharv; 06/20/1802:05 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
I have a 10 year old, XP Pro 32bit machine with 4 GB of memory.....and it only takes about 20 seconds to a minute depending on the song and the tracks.
It tells me it's "Initializing Accompaniment". Even at startup it's only a minute.
So yeah, an hour seems extremely long. Even my old really slow laptop didn't take more than a minute or two at the most to generate the tracks in RB.
Larger context: Yep.... if you can play the tracks in question better than the RB RT players..... certainly. I do this all the time. Just mute the track it created and set up a new track to record your instrument.
More than one time, I have spent hours working on a part and in the end.... decided to work with the RB RT since it was clearly better. Either in tonal quality or performance. So.... don't delete the track until you're absolutely sure your track is the keeper.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Which version of Windows are you using? Also, what's the make and model of your processor, and how much RAM do you have? If you're not sure about the processor and RAM, you can find out by going to the Windows Control Panel and clicking on System.
It's very peculiar and very consistent (in terms of taking a long time). It also doesn't seem to generate anything, oddly enough. Like after it's all done, I press play and it just flashes on the -1 measure.
I don't have anti-virus. It causes way too many problems for me as a developer.
"AHHHHH! NEW UNRECOGNIZED EXE! KILL IT!" "No, really, I just made it, it's fine." "TURN OFF CHECKS FOR THIS DIRECTORY OR I'LL KEEP SCREAMING!" "OK. Turned off." "AHHH!! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS THAT .EXE!"
40 years and I've never had a virus except in circumstances I expected them (when checking suspect machines in loosely controlled business situations); I'm very disinclined to use anything that annoying.
Oh, I have a knack for finding weird stuff like this. I probably did something funky in BiaB.
The problem I have with BiaB's sound, so far, is essentially the aural version of "uncanny valley". I think I can get around that when I'm better with it but right now, I'm finding it hard to groove to.
Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
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